Romania’s energy exports reached 3.6 TWh in the first half of this year, up 86% against the same period of 2013, according to data on electricity exchanges compiled by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E). Romania is represented in the association by Transelectrica.
The main destinations for Romanian electricity were Bulgaria and Serbia, which “absorbed” together 84% of quantities delivered abroad. In Bulgaria, the energy from Romania reduced the gap generated by damages registered at a coal-based electrical power station, while exports to Serbia peaked in mid-May, when floods caused by heavy rains disrupted energy supplies to some localities and determined the shutdown of some Serbian thermal and hydropower stations.
As a result, Romania’s energy exports to Serbia rose six times in 1H, from 0.16 TWh in 1H, 2013, to 1.15 TWh in 1H, 2014.
Overall, Romania in the first six months of this year sent EUR118 million worth of energy abroad, almost twice as much as in the first half of last year.
In the same period, electricity imports dwindled by 70%, to 0.8 TWh, from 2.7 TWh in 1H, 2013.
Energy exports are important for domestic energy producers as domestic demand has constantly declined in recent years, by 2.5% in 2012 and 5% in 2013, according to Romanian energy watchdog ANRE. In the first five months of this year, domestic electricity consumption slid by 1.4%, according to the National Statistics Institute.
The law bans electricity producers to sell directly to consumers, so that their energy is delivered abroad by traders. Their interest is to take advantage of the higher prices on the neighboring markets, particularly Hungary.
“But for exports, certain producers could even close down. At domestic prices, coal-based producers are unable to grow. Exports are a breath of fresh air,” says an energy market source.
Generally, traders take the cheapest energy abroad, that is renewable energy and not the one generated by traditional producers such as coal-based thermal power stations. However, the latter are helped by exports as were it not for this market, the entire energy would flood the domestic market and put rising pressure on prices.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)